In the Wake of Charlie Hebdo

As of this posting, there are at least two separate hostage standoff situations near Paris. One is at a kosher market (I've heard it referred to as a supermarket, deli, or grocery) on Ave Porte de Vincennes in the 13th Arr (that'd be Southeastern Paris). The other is near Charles de Gaulle airport. There have also been reports of an incident near the Eiffel Tower in the Trocadero, but so far news about that incident is limited.

There have been casualties reported in one of the incidents, with at least two dead.

The two standoff situations appear related to each other and to the Charlie Hebdo attacks, as well as a separate attack resulting in the death of a French policewoman the other day. It's likely all part of the same cell.

Yet, there's something irking me about all this. We're being told that it required training and tactics to carry off the attacks, but yet the best that this cell could manage is to kill a bunch of unarmed journalists and a couple of cops who were caught by surprise and off-guard before engaging in standoffs at locations like a grocery store.

Is this the best that al Qaeda in Yemen can do?

I know that sounds off or somehow callous but if you're studying tactics, methods, and capabilities, al Qaeda has gone from being able to pull off spectacular attacks against the USS Cole (a military target no less), the African embassy bombings that killed hundreds of people, and 9/11, which killed nearly 3,000 people and injured thousands more, to now being able to attack a French satire paper.

That's quite telling about the limits of what al Qaeda is able to do more than a decade after 9/11. It doesn't mean let your guard down, but it should also put things in perspective.

Also putting things into perspective? That the cry and hue about Muslims overwhelming Europe are so vastly overblown that a handy dandy visual is needed to hammer it home:

This is the best visualization I've yet seen of Europe's "Muslim tide" hysteria pic.twitter.com/a681LGp4yR

— Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) January 9, 2015

Or, perhaps a few other statistics about the threats from terrorism:

Less Than 2 Percent Of Terrorist Attacks In The E.U. Are Religiously Motivated. http://t.co/NAuKUyYXNn

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) January 9, 2015

And if you're listening closely, just substitute Jew for Muslim in all those calls for banning Muslims from entering the country because the acts of a handful are indicative of the intent of all (and that's the most limited kind of rhetoric streaming from the right, which also includes expulsion and flat out genocide). Even in France, where anti-Semitism is rampant, the fact is that most people - of all religions - just want to live in peace, and there are those who want to deny everyone that opportunity. They happen to include Islamist extremists who do not speak for all Muslims.

So, while attention is rightly focused on Paris and the search for the Charlie Hebdo killers, there's Muslims living in fear of Islamic extremists the world over, and few places are more dangerous right now for Muslims than Nigeria where Boko Haram is operating with ruthless abandon. This terror group is rampaging across northeastern Nigeria, where reports of slaughter continue. That terror group is now threatening Cameroon as well, and Niger has now refused to assist Nigeria in retaking the area around Baga. Reports continue circulating that 2,000 or more people were killed by Boko Haram since the start of the year there, and that at least 20,000 people have been displaced. Some reportedly drowned attempting to flee across Lake Chad.

Yet, the silence and lack of media reports and access means that this horrific attack isn't getting anywhere near the press coverage of the attacks in Paris.

Cross posted to LGF.

A New Phase in the Syrian Civil War

I'm going to utilize the term civil war in regards to the situation in Syria. Rebel forces are holding territory in the country despite an onslaught from Bashar al Assad's loyal militias and military forces. The rebels are not only fighting, but gaining territory despite the horrible atrocities inflicted by the regime against those that dare oppose them.

The new from the besieged city of Haffa is grim - the stench of death is everywhere, but there's no way to know the number of casualties as fighting was still ongoing and bodies were apparently policed:

The UN Supervisory Mission in Syria said observers in the town reported finding it all but deserted with a strong stench of dead bodies and almost all government institutions gutted from the inside.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall, who is in Syria, said the observers had also found many cars burned, including police cars.

The observers were escorted into the town by government forces.

The news comes a day after Syrian authorities said the area had been "cleansed" of rebel fighters.

On Wednesday, rebels were said to have withdrawn from the besieged town and nearby villages that had been under intense regime shelling for eight days.

The UN statement said: "A strong stench of dead bodies was in the air and there appeared to be pockets in the town were fighting is still ongoing."
It added: "Most government institutions, including the post office, were set on fire from inside.

"Archives were burnt, stores were looted and set on fire, residential homes appeared rummaged and the doors were open."

It said the number of casualties was still unclear.

The war appears heading into a new phase as France is contemplating providing communications equipment to the rebel forces. That's a significant step and shouldn't be discounted considering just how Assad's regime has fought the insurrection by limiting communications between opposition groups.

New communications equipment would allow the rebels greater coordination in defying the Assad regime, as well as getting their messages out to the rest of the world.

At the same time, Russia is sending a small contingent of combat troops to guard its port facilities in Tartus, Syria. That further complicates the diplomatic efforts and puts Russian troops on the ground in Syria at a time when the West is looking to find ways to oust Assad. US officials also clarified that the Russians were sending replacement parts for Russian-made helicopters, not sending new helicopters, though the outcome is still that Assad can use those helicopters and the replacement parts as part of his ongoing war against the rebel forces.

Having the Russian troops on the ground reduces the chances of an operation to oust Assad and greatly increases the risks for any kind of military operation. It's the most concrete example to date of Russian support for Assad, despite countless examples of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Those crimes include using sexual assaults and rape to further the regime's goals.

The EU has banned luxury goods from being shipped to Syria, but it will be some time before the effects of that ban take its toll on the regime.

The conflict in Syria has repercussions for Israel as well. There, the concern is what happens to Syria's WMD program, particularly chemical weapons that the Syrians are known to possess.

srael’s concern focuses on two stark possibilities.

The first is that the weapons will fall into rogue hands – either al-Qaida or Hezbollah, which is believed to already be working to move some of the advanced military systems it has been storing in Syria to Lebanon out of fear that they will be captured by rebel forces. The takeover earlier this week of an air defense base in Syria by rebels underscores that fear.

The second option – considered more unlikely – is that Assad will use the weapons against Israel if he starts to think that his end is near. This way, he will try to divert attention away from the massacres his military forces have been perpetrating throughout Syria and instead have his people rally behind him in a war against Israel.

Syria’s chemical weapons program began in the mid 1970s. According to Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yehoshua Saguy, who served as head of Military Intelligence from 1979 to 1983, Egypt assisted the Syrians in starting the program.

“It was after the Yom Kippur War which they ultimately lost, and there were rumors about Israel’s purported nuclear capability,” Saguy recalled this week. “It was a totalitarian regime so they just diverted funds, purchased some basic capabilities from Egypt and later, with the help of experts from the former Soviet Union, began to build their own independent infrastructure.”

It took only a few years for the program to take off, and in 1982 the world witnessed what a dictator with chemical weapons was capable of doing. Hafez Assad ordered his military to quell Muslim Brotherhood protests in Hama. In addition to heavy shelling, the forces also used poisonous gas to kill the protesters.

Those concerns were amplified following reports that a Syrian military base was overrun by rebel forces. Israeli officials also believe that Hizbullah may be trying to get their advanced weapons out of Syria and into Lebanon before everything completely goes crazy in Syria.

Truce and Lies

No surprises here. Bashar al-Assad's regime is saying that they're complying with the terms of ceasefire offered up by the Arab League and UN envoy Kofi Annan. The facts on the ground indicate something else entirely.

Assad's security forces have again intensified their assaults on rebel areas and increased the body county.

Syria's assurance that its forces are complying with a cease-fire deal have been condemned as a "blatant lie" by France, as 32 people were reportedly killed even after guns were supposed to be silent.

In scarcely diplomatic language, the French foreign ministry spokesman said: "The Syrian foreign minister's statements this morning, affirming an initial implementation of the Annan plan by the Damascus regime, are a fresh expression of this blatant and unacceptable lie.”

"They are indicative of a feeling of impunity against which the international community absolutely must react," the spokesman, Bernard Valero, told reporters in Paris.

Visiting Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem had earlier said troops were already pulling back from cities in line with a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan.
But, citing Syrian sources and satellite images, Valero said "none of the elements" of Annan's plan had been implemented.

"There is what the regime's representatives are saying and then there is the reality," he said. "On average 100 people are dying each day and it continues. Today, Syrian security forces are still firing on populated areas and using heavy weapons, armored vehicles and helicopters. That's the reality."

Homs remained under constant fire from Assad's forces, and the bulk of those killed or injured were in the city. Assad can continue killing dozens of Syrians daily and there's not a thing anyone seems willing to do as long as Russia and China continue supporting the regime and thwarting stronger measures at the UN.

Homs Remains Under Artillery Assault For 20th Day; Assad's Crackdown Continues

The City of Homs has now been under constant artillery barrages and attacks by Bashar al-Assad's security forces for 20 days and there's no sign of any letup. Assad's forces are intensifying their attacks, and the body count continues rising on a daily basis.

The UN no longer keeps track of the casualty figures because their officials can't guarantee their own safety, so casualty figures are derived from news reports (both the official government propaganda type and the opposition Twitter, blog, and satellite report chatter), human rights groups that operate in the country, and the only thing that is certain is that civilians continue being murdered by the regime.

The attacks on Homs are not precision attacks against military targets, but are instead attacks that hit civilians all too frequently. Civilians are the targets, which means that Assad's regime is engaging in crimes against humanity and war crimes in violation of Geneva Conventions and other international law. Even the United Nations Secretary General and other top human rights officials at the UN are cognizant of the criminal acts by the Assad regime.

The report, handed to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was compiled by a panel of three investigators who said that they had not been allowed to enter Syria to conduct their inquiries at first hand but had relied on a total of 369 interviews with victims, witnesses, defectors and other people with “inside knowledge” of the situation. They had also examined photographs, video recordings and satellite imagery to corroborate some witness accounts.

The report was published as Syrian security forces continued their shelling of besieged areas of the central city of Homs for a 20th successive day on Thursday, despite a growing outcry and international calls for the creation of humanitarian corridors to reach the sick, the wounded and the frail.

The newest bombardment, reported by activists, came on the eve of a major international gathering Tunisia to seek a way out of the crisis. Some reports from Homs said government forces in tanks had pressed into contested areas where opponents of the government say hundreds of trapped civilians have died in one of the deadliest campaigns in nearly a year of violent repression by the government of President Assad. The United Nations report seemed likely to add weight to those conclusions, arguing that Syria was now “on the brink” of civil war and “the continuation of the crisis carries the risk of radicalizing the population, deepening inter-communal tensions and eroding the fabric of society.”

The document spoke of torture and killing of civilians.

“The commission received credible and consistent evidence identifying high- and mid-ranking members of the armed forces who ordered their subordinates to shoot at unarmed protesters, kill soldiers who refused to obey such orders, arrest persons without cause, mistreat detained persons and attack civilian neighborhoods with indiscriminate tanks and machine gun fire,” the investigators said.

Yet, the UN is powerless to do anything more than write a strongly worded letter because Russia and China continue to hold a veto threat against any action in the Security Council that might even provide the option to use military action to force Assad to stop his brutal crackdown. That's despite the fact that the recognition of war crimes and crimes against humanity demands that the UN act under the terms of international law, including the Genocide Convention and Geneva Conventions.

There are also accusations by French leader Nicholas Sarkozy that the Syrian military deliberately targeted journalists, including the attacks that killed American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

Wounded protesters brought to hospitals are reportedly being tortured, and children are among those killed.

While Russia and China are the most important backers to Assad's regime, they're not alone. Besides Iran, it appears that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has decided to throw his support behind Assad and his brutal regime.

UPDATE:
The UN has gone beyond what it has previously state in regards to crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria to say that the actions are being directed by the highest levels of Assad's government.

"The commission is satisfied that a reliable body of evidence exists that, consistent with other verified circumstances, provides reasonable grounds to believe that particular individuals, including commanding officers and officials at the highest levels of government, bear responsibility for crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations," the report said.

In other words, these aren't the actions of rogue local security forces run amok but rather the coordinated actions of a government engaging in crimes against their own countrymen.

Assad's Deadly Crackdown Continues With Artillery Assaults Against Homs

Homs has been under fire almost continuously since the beginning of the year, and the artillery barrages continue today. Britain and France are pushing for more assistance to the Syrian resistance.

"We cannot bring about a Syrian revolution ... if the Syrian revolution does not make an effort to rally together and organize so that we can better help them," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris.

He insisted, however, that "the revolution will not be brought about from outside, it will be brought about from the inside."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, at Sarkozy's side after meetings Friday, said Britain and France are working "to see what more we can do" to help the Syrian opposition.

On Thursday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused the Syrian regime of committing "almost certain" crimes against humanity. The U.N. General Assembly also overwhelmingly voted for a resolution that strongly condemns human rights violations by Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. According to the U.N., more than 5,400 people have been killed since March in the regime's bloody crackdown.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shells were slamming into the Homs neighborhoods of Baba Amr, Bayadah, Khaldiyeh and Inshaat on Friday.

Syrian troops have been [ed: began?] attacking the neighborhoods on Feb. 4. Amateur videos showed at least one tank shelling Baba Amr from a close distance.

The fight against Assad is attracting foreign fighters from around the region, and complicating factors even further is that the resistance may have been infiltrated by al Qaeda, and that's an ongoing concern for both the Arab League and Western countries. Indeed, the US has warned that a series of bombings against Syrian military and intel facilities was the work of al Qaeda.

Last week, CNN's Barbara Starr reported that the United States had intercepted communications of operatives of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) who are now in Syria. U.S. intelligence suggests a small groups of AQI operatives have been "pushed into Syria" by their commanders and are able to carry out intelligence and reconnaissance against Syrian targets and subsequent bombing attacks.

In describing the opposition, Clapper said it is very fractured, "not a national movement," comprised of both those from the local population and "exiles and the like." The director of national intelligence said the Free Syrian Army is feuding internally about who will lead it and in "another disturbing phenomenon," has been infiltrated by al-Qaida. He said the Free Syrian Army is made up of disparate groups with no centralized "command and control."

"The opposition groups in many cases may not be aware they (al-Qaida operatives) are there," Clapper told the committee. He said recent bombings in Aleppo and Damascus against security and intelligence buildings "had all the earmarks of an al-Qaida-like attack."

"We believe that al-Qaida in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria. Complicating all of this is -- and this is another contrast with Libya, where we had one or two or three sites that had chemical warfare components -- is a much more complex issue in Syria, which has an extensive network of such installations," Clapper observed.

There are also concerns that with the deteriorating security situation in Syria that al Qaeda may come into possession of chemical weapons that Assad is known to possess. It's a possibility, but US and other foreign intel services are monitoring those facilities from satellite and other reconnaissance data.

Assad Claims Referendum Will Ease Crisis; Brutal Crackdown Continues

Bashar al-Assad has done this before. He's gone before the microphone to claim that he's a reformer and that he's in the process of reforming the Syrian political system. Today, he's claiming that a new constitution is ready for a referendum that would allow expanded access to the political system and that ends the Ba'athist control over the country.

President Bashar al-Assad set a February 26 date for the vote on a draft constitution, hailed by the his government as an important reform initiative. But analysts and demonstrators sloughed off the effort as "window dressing" and the latest in a series of superficial measures undertaken to mollify his critics over the last 11 months.

Members of a committee tasked with drafting the document "reiterated their keenness on a constitution that allows ... public freedoms and political plurality in a way to lay the foundation for a new stage that will enrich Syria's cultural history," the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Former Syrian lawmaker George Jabbour said "clause 8 of the new draft of the constitution is the essential point" of the document. It "allows a multi-party system as opposed to the Baath party being the leading party of the society and the state as stipulated in the current constitution." The Baath party rules Syria.

That's a laugh, considering that his brutal crackdown continues and the death and misery his loyalists are inflicting on civilians is growing with each passing day.

Rebel forces claim to have repulsed attacks in some areas, though Assad's forces are continuing their assaults against Homs, Hama, and even Damascus suburbs. At the same time, France is continuing to lead diplomatic efforts to isolate Syria and to take more concrete actions against the Assad regime at the United Nations along with the Arab League. They're circulating an amended draft resolution at the Security Council while the Arab League is moving ahead with a non-binding measure in the General Assembly. Russia and China continue to back Syria's ongoing actions by and through their veto on the Security Council.

Complicating matters further is reports that defectors keep coming forward with stories of brutality, and some are even claiming that Assad's forces are using chemical weapons to improve their chances of pacifying cities such as Hama and Homs. That's a possibility, but thus far we haven't seen photos or video of any victims who have succumbed to such weapons.

We know what use of chemical weapons looks like and what it can do to victims who are ill-prepared to deal with chemical weapons and nerve agents. Mustard gas and VX or GB all do tremendous damage to the nervous system and respiratory systems. Indeed, when Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons during the Anfal campaign to eliminate opposition, photos were taken of the victims.

Still, the US and others are watching known Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles and locations for activity, although that is generally in terms of preventing proliferation of such weapons and man-launched anti-aircraft weapons. If such weapons were being used against civilian populations, the US eyes-in-the-skies would likely see unusual activity at monitored sites though there is the possibility that Syria's military has undisclosed locations from which it can draw such weapons.

UPDATE:
If the claims by defecting soldiers that chemical weapons are indeed being used, then the pressure for the United Nations to act increases significantly because Assad would then be in violation of the Geneva Conventions, The Rome Statute (establishing the ICC and provides for crimes against humanity and war crimes), Chemical Weapons Conventions although Syria is not a signatory to the CWC.

Basque Terror Group ETA Claims It's Ending Terror Campaign

After nearly 50 years of an unending terror campaign across Spain, the terror group ETA is claiming it's ending the use of violence to further its goals of Basque independence.

The group’s announcement of “the definite cessation of its military activity,” and its appeal for a “direct dialogue” with the governments in Madrid and Paris, came in the form of a written statement and an accompanying video posted online, which were sent to news organizations.

The renunciation of armed struggle went a step further than previous cease-fires the group has issued, and often broken, over the years. It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the group had been badly weakened by a crackdown by Spanish and French security forces.

Spanish leaders, facing a debt crisis and severe austerity measures, welcomed the rare bit of good news with relief and cautious optimism.

“The state of law today triumphs,” said Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “Our democracy will be one without terrorism, but not without memory,” he added, recalling the 829 people killed by ETA over more than four decades.

Mariana Rajoy, the leader of the Popular Party, called the announcement “good news,” with the caveat that “the tranquillity of Spaniards will only be complete when the full dismantling of ETA has occurred.”

In fact, the statement fails to meet many of Spain’s longtime demands — ETA did not say it would disarm, dissolve or renounce the goal of independence — and experts cautioned that many problems would have to be resolved before peace could be secured.

Far from dissolving, ETA, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, made it plain that it saw itself, and its political wing, as a major players in future negotiations on a tangle of complex issues arising from the prolonged violence.

Those issues include demands for the release of hundreds of Basque militants imprisoned in French and Spanish jails, including top-ranking figures from the leadership of ETA and Batasuna, a banned political party that has been closely associated with ETA. Just as thorny will be issues relating to the disarming of ETA and the decommissioning of its arms and explosives, the experts said, and the reintegration of former militants into everyday life.

This isn't the first time the group claimed that it was renouncing terrorism so I'm not entirely sure that the group can hold up its side of the bargain.

Happy Bastille Day!

Bastille Day, Rush - from their 1976 tour (HT: Mrs. Lawhawk)

Assad's Two-Faced Statements

Bashar al Assad is no different than your typical dictator or despot. When confronted with overwhelming evidence that Syria is in the wrong, he's lashing out at the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for provocations.

Both the U.S. and France strongly criticized Syria after pro-government mobs attacked the American and French embassies in Damascus on Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities and graffiti on the walls.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned Clinton's statement as "a provocative reaction."

"Syria stresses that the legitimacy of its political leadership is based neither on the United States nor on others, it is exclusively from the will of the Syrian people," the statement said.

President Bashar Assad is facing a four-month-old uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to his family's 40-year dynasty in Syria, one of the most tightly controlled countries in the Middle East.

He has tried to crush the unrest using a mixture of deadly force and promises of reform, but the revolt has only grown more defiant. Enraged by a government crackdown that activists say has killed some 1,600 people, the protest movement is now calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

Syria's deadly government crackdown has led to international condemnation and sanctions.

The US didn't provoke hundreds of thousands of Syrians to take to the streets to protest Assad's brutal regime. Assad's brutality brought that about on its own. Failed economic policies brought about the massive protests. The US had nothing to do with any of that.

What Assad did do was condone the rioters aimed at the US and French embassies where rioters vandalized and attempted to overrun the security posts and cause unspecified damage to the US ambassador's home. Those riots would not have occurred unless Assad bused them in and told security to be elsewhere when it happened.



This is far from the first time that Syrian security has looked the other way when rioters have attacked embassies. During the cartoon jihad, Danish and Norwegian embassies were torched by crowds in Damascus protesting the free speech rights to post cartoons depicting Mohammad. Those were well-planned riots with a death toll, but they were also acts of war against the countries whose embassies were damaged or destroyed.

Just as those were acts of war so too were the attacks against the embassies of the United States and France yesterday. International law provides protections for embassies and diplomatic property as though they were land of the foreign country. An attack on the US embassy is the same as an attack on the United States.

Now, Assad may claim that his regime didn't condone the rioting, but in a country where his regime is brutally cracking down against protests on a daily basis, that they've managed to overlook rioters hell-bent on attacking foreign embassies seems to be a stretch. He might have just enough plausible deniability to avoid direct and immediate consequences, but the war of words has been ratcheted up quite a bit since US Ambassador Ford went to Hama to witness the protests first-hand.

Since then, Assad has been waging an ever louder war of words with the US and sought to intimidate protesters in the US in addition to the actions within Syria. Some might argue that the Syrian ambassador to the US was put in that position by his masters in Damascus, but if he's as truly Westernized as claimed or believed, then he would have known that those actions would have resulted in serious repercussions. Syria Ambassador to the US Imad Moustapha, if those claims are to be believed, would appear to be the kind of individual that the US should be trying to turn against his masters in Damascus, just as other ministers and high ranking officials have fled and turned against the Libyian regime of Mumar Khadafi.

Let's not forget that Syria has been trying to influence the outcome in Lebanon for years, has been caught receiving arms shipments from Iran (and one such shipment that was intercepted and being stored in Cyprus pending a disposition exploded with deadly consequences earlier this week). They've been arming and sheltering terrorist groups throughout the region, including Hamas and Hizbullah.

This is not a regime interested in anything other than remaining in power and using whatever means at its disposal to do so. Assad's following the Hama rules, and it's the only playbook that his regime knows.

Syrian Forces Assault Homs In Ongoing Effort To Quell Protests; Protesters Attack US, French Embassies

It's another day and another city is under fire from Syrian forces answering to Bashar al Assad's odious regime. This time, it's the city of Homs, and casualties have again been reported.

Rights activists and residents say Syrian troops backed by armored vehicles have stormed into the central city of Homs, killing at least one person and wounding 20 others.

The witnesses said the attacks Monday included troops firing machine guns.

The clashes come as Syria holds the second day of a national dialogue on political reform. Some opposition activists and intellectuals have joined the talks, but most prominent Syrian dissidents boycotted the conference to protest President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown on the opposition uprising.

During the first day of talks Sunday, a number of speakers condemned the government's security forces and its violence against protesters. But others repeated Assad's contention that foreign agitators are attempting to destabilize Syria.

It's always about the foreign agitators - and finger pointing towards Israel or the US or other undisclosed Western influences.

It's never about the fact that Assad has ruled with an iron fist and his regime, like his fathers, has never been shy about using force to quell protests and opposition groups. The difference is that this time, the opposition has been televised and reports have been getting out of the country showing just how odious his regime is. The protests have not stopped, despite the carnage inflicted by the security forces.

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities continue the rabble rousing, and have brought about protests outside the US and French embassies. That follows the visit of US and French ambassadors to the embattled city of Hama to witness protests first-hand.



Assad's diplomatic corps has attempted to intimidate protesters in the US by photographing and videotaping them outside the Syrian embassy in Washington DC, but now the protests are outside the US and French embassies in Damascus and the French embassy in Aleppo.

For all the talk about reform and restraint, the fact that Assad's goons continue military assaults on cities throughout the country where protests have been ongoing is far more relevant than any claims to dialogue.

UPDATE:
MSNBC is reporting that rabble rousers have now attacked the US Embassy in Damascus and Syrian security forces were no where to be found. Syrian goons were allowed to attack the US embassy in Damascus. They apparently entered the grounds and raised a Syrian flag and sprayed anti-US graffiti. That follows similar protests towards the French embassies that were dispersed by French forces firing into the air.

UPDATE:
You don't bus in hundreds of protesters to attack the embassies unless Assad's regime is backing those attacks. Note too that the video/photographic evidence is quite easy to come by from the state run media in contrast with the attacks against civilians in places like Homs.

EU Calls On Hamas To Release Gilad Shalit On Eve of 5th Anniversary of Capture

In just a few short hours, it will have been five years since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed two Israeli soldiers and captured Gilad Shalit. The two Israeli soldiers killed were Lt. Hanan Barak, 20, of Arad and Staff-Sgt. Pavel Slutzker, 20, of Dimona. They were attacked by a Hamas cell that infiltrated into Israel through a tunnel originating from the Rafah area, passing under the security fence to the area between the Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings. The terrorists, operating under cover of mortar and anti-tank fire from within the Gaza Strip, attacked an armored personnel carrier, an IDF tank and a watchtower. IDF forces returned fire, killing at least two terrorists. Shalit was captured in that raid.

Shalit has been held for the past five years somewhere in Gaza and Hamas refuses to provide humanitarian aid groups any access for fear that it might tip Israel off as to his whereabouts. It refuses to allow the ICRC or Red Crescent access to Shalit so as to affirm his physical condition and well-being - all in violation of international law and conventions, to say nothing of human rights.

The reason for Shalit's capture - and that Hamas infiltration operation was simple. Hamas wanted to trade Shalit's life for the release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists sitting in Israeli jails. That calculus remains in effect, and repeated efforts to secure his release have faltered over the numbers of terrorists that Hamas demands be released as well as which terrorists are to be included.

Two years ago, Hamas and Israel agreed to the early release of several hundred Palestinians in exchange for video showing that Shalit was still alive. That was a propaganda victory for Hamas, who gets to trot out the prisoners to cheering adulation and big crowds that call for Israel's downfall.

Sadly, nothing has changed this past year, which is the same as it was the year before only that Shalit is yet another year older and another year deprived of his rights and freedom.

Hamas refuses to release Shalit unless Israel releases hundreds or thousands of Palestinians, which is suicidal for Israel to contemplate. Hamas will not release Shalit as a humanitarian aid gesture so as to induce Israel to reduce its blockade against Gaza because it would lose its primary pawn in its ongoing war against Israel.

However, this time the EU is calling on Hamas to release Shalit, and France has said that we should not foresake Shalit (Shalit is a dual-citizen with France). Earlier this year, the G8 also called for Shalit's release, but that will all fall on deaf ears; the only thing Hamas cares about is maximizing the bounty paid on Shalit - maximize the number of terrorists Israel has to release to buy Shalit his freedom.

Russia Backs Assad While Syrian Regimes Continues Brutal Crackdown

Russia is once again on the wrong side of history as it plans on blocking anything harsher than a weakly worded statement against Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad.

"Russia is against any UN Security Council resolution on Syria," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told journalists at a briefing in Moscow.

"We do not believe the Syrian issue is a subject for consideration by the Security Council, let alone the adoption of some kind of resolution," Lukashevich said.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal have floated a new draft resolution condemning Syria as the United States and its allies seek to raise the pressure on President Bashar Assad's government to end its violent crackdown on protesters.



Lukashevich stopped short of saying Russia would use its veto power as a permanent UN Security Council member to doom any Syria resolution if it comes to a vote.

Some diplomats have said they thought Moscow could be persuaded to abstain, as it did in a March vote on the resolution that authorized military intervention in Libya.

A newly liberated Syria would be less likely to rely upon Russia for its military and long range strategic interests, so Russia is looking out for its own pocketbook interests rather than for the human rights of Syrians oppressed by Assad's brutal regime that keeps racking up the butcher's bill.

At the same time, the IAEA is about to hand down its own report about Syria's covert nuclear program. That report would include recommendations to the Security Council for action against the regime's nuclear program (including the covert nuclear facility bombed by Israel in 2007). Throw in the ongoing investigation of Syria's involvement in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and there's more than sufficient reason for the Security Council to act against Assad, but Russia will do what it can to water down the response.

For those concerned about Assad's ongoing crackdown, one has to hope that the diplomats from France, Britain, Portugal and Germany among others, are able to convince Russia to abstain rather than an outright veto that would thwart any action.

Meanwhile, Syrians continue fleeing to Turkey to avoid what they fear would be a massacre of civilians following the incident in Jisr Al-Shugur where Syrian officials claim 120 Syrian security and police were killed by armed opponents. Convoys of tanks led by Assad's brother are reportedly heading towards the town.

The Crackdown Continues in Syria As US Considers Sanctions

Bashar al-Assad's regime isn't holding back in quelling the opposition to his regime with the use of deadly force.



While countries like the US are mulling sanctions and the UN is considering a harshly worded statement, the regime continues using live ammunition on its citizens protesting against the regime's harsh tactics, which include torture and indefinite detentions of their fellow Syrians. The US doesn't have much in the way of diplomatic or economic ties to the country, so the effects of its sanctions would be quite limited. Sanctions from a country like France would be more significant since the two countries have had a long history since the end of the First World War.

Gunfire continues to ripple across the country, including in Daraa, which was the epicenter of mass protests against the regime.

Video Shows Capture of Ivory Coast's Gbagbo

Despite claims in earlier reports that French special forces and helicopters were involved in the capture of Laurent Gbagbo, newly released video shows Ivory Coast rebels making the final push into his compound and capturing Gbagbo.



He's since been moved to a villa where he is being kept under guard before he is expected to face justice both under national and international law:

Ivory Coast's new President Alassane Ouattara has said all sides in the country's conflict must face justice.

He said he would ask the International Criminal Court to probe massacres in which both his forces and those of his rival Laurent Gbagbo were suspected.

Mr Gbagbo was captured on Monday by Mr Ouattara's forces after he refused to accept he lost elections in November.

He will now face charges at a "national level and an international level", Mr Ouattara said.

At a news conference in the main city of Abidjan, Mr Ouattara said Mr Gbagbo had been moved to a secure location.

Ouattara won the election in November, and Gbagbo refused to relinquish power, setting off the conflict that claimed hundreds of lives and caused incalculable damage to the economy.

The new president also intends to impose justice equally on those who committed crimes in the name of Gbagbo and his own supporters, and also sought to clamp down on looters taking advantage of the security vacuum. He's saying all the right things for the moment, but time will tell whether he turns out to be what Ivory Coast needs.

Sanctions are likely to be lifted against the country now that Gbagbo is out of power.

French Special Forces Capture and Hand Over Gbagbo To Ivory Coast Opposition

The capital of Ivory Coast is rife with ruined buildings, damaged vehicles, and the remains of the dead from heavy fighting between Laurent Gbagbo's loyalists and Alassane Dramane Ouattara's opposition groups.

The UN and French forces have not been playing peacekeepers so much as pushing to rid the African nation of Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after losing elections in November to Ouattara.



French forces have apparently captured Gbagbo, after assaulting his last bastion with tanks and special forces.

French special forces have detained Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and handed him to leaders of the rebel opposition, after French tanks forced their way into his residence, a Gbagbo adviser in France said.

"Gbagbo has been arrested by French special forces in his residence and has been handed over to the rebel leaders," Toussaint Alain told Reuters.

The opposition, UN and French forces have worn away Gbagbo's loyalists until there were fewer than 1,000 left. Waning support helped undermine Gbagbo's regime, but that didn't stop him from causing incalculable damage to the country and its economy.

The next step will be to see how Ouattara handles Gbagbo, and how the new government takes shape.

UPDATE:
Video has emerged from his arrest/handover to Ivory Coast:



Looks like someone whose former lifestyle is now a dim memory and whose future is anything but sunny. He knows that he's in for a rough time and that by staying on in power well beyond his electoral mandate, he's won few friends.

Gbagbo's Regime Enters Death Spiral

Laurent Gbagbo's regime has entered its death spiral, and opposition forces have closed the noose around Gbagbo's residence. Reports indicate that he's in a bunker and surrounded and while he claims not to want to die, he's refusing to cede power.

Forces loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday stormed the residence of incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo who has refused to cede power, a spokeswoman for Ouattara forces told Reuters.

"Yes they (Ouattara forces) are in the process of entering the residence to seize Gbagbo, they have not taken him yet, but they are in the process, they are in the building," Affousy Bamba told Reuters.

Residents around the presidential palace in Abidjan's Cocody neighborhood said they heard heavy gunfire and loud explosions coming from the direction of the palace.

"I have seen from my building the FRCI fighters (Ouattara forces) in pickups and 4x4 jeeps rushing toward Gbagbo's residence, weapons in their hands," Alfred Kouassi, who lives near Gbagbo's residence in Cocody, told Reuters.

"We can hear automatic gunfire and also the thuds of heavy weapons coming from the residence," he said.

Gbagbo representative Toussaint Alain, speaking to The Associated Press in a phone interview from Paris, said Gbagbo's residence was being bombarded by the French army, but the French military denied the claim.

A negotiated end to the fighting has failed, and Gbagbo has refused to cede power, despite losing the November election to Ouattara.

France is intervening in Ivory Coast, and is backed by UN mandate so as to protect civilian populations.



Gbagbo is attempting to use French intervention as a means to rally support - noting French colonialism.

Noose Tightens Around Ivory Coast's Gbagbo; Gbagbo Seeks Exit Strategy

Laurent Gbagbo lost elections in November to Alassane Dramane Ouattara, but chose to remain in power. That has led to an ongoing uprising, and now the UN and France are assisting Ouattara's supporters in regime change.



They're helping to force Gbagbo from power, and now that Gbagbo's forces have been pushed from key locations around the country, and have lost the presidential palace compound, Gbagbo is now looking at a negotiated exit strategy.

Speaking on France Info radio, Ali Coulibaly did not provide any details about the alleged negotiations. The ambassador represents Alassane Ouattara, who is regarded by the international community as the country's democratically elected president.

Coulibaly's comments come a day after attacks by United Nations and French forces on Gbagbo's presidential palace, military bases and other targets in the country's main city Abidjan.

Ouattara's forces claimed they had taken the residence. However, this was denied by a Gbagbo adviser.

Pro-Ouattara supporters had succeeded in taking much of the country last week, but they faltered upon reaching Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city.

With the help of international forces, the armed group pushed its way into the city.

The loss of life and damage to the economy is considerable. All of this could have been avoided had Gbagbo simply heeded the results of the election. Instead of facing justice, expect Gbagbo to be given the golden ticket to exile.

Syria's Assad Rearranges Deck Chairs While Trying To Quell Protests

Bashar al-Assad is no different than any other thug and dictator in the Middle East. He wants to stay in power despite growing home-grown opposition taking to the streets demanding political and social change.

So, what is a dictator to do under such circumstances? Well, for starters, Assad took his father's advice (the Hama rules) and started killing protesters. When that didn't exactly work out and the protests spread, he got his thugs to rally in support of his regime as he does the dictatorial 2-step by resigning his cabinet and shuffling the deck chairs.

With protests against his regime spreading, the show in Damascus is meant to divert attention from the protests and the real dissent against the regime. Assad figures that if he can show he's got support media attention will look elsewhere while he reasserts power and authority against those protesting.

Employees and members of unions controlled by Assad's Baath Party, which has been in power for nearly 50 years, said they had been ordered to attend the rallies, where there was a heavy presence of security police.
All gatherings and demonstrations are banned in Syria, other than those sponsored by the government.

It was expected that Assad would make announcements in the next 24 hours (well, 48 hours from yesterday), but no real change has been made to the emergency law that lets Assad do pretty much whatever he wants. Nor, has Assad actually gone on television to address the nation about whatever he intends to do next. That may suggest that there's some dissent within his inner circle, but that too may be a result of rearranging his cabinet to better suit what he prepares to do next.

Don't accept the fact that his cabinet resigned at face value. They were tossed under the bus precisely because they were expendable to Assad. They were fired.

And while the UN, US, and NATO are engaged in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya because Khadafi was busy killing his own citizens to remain in power, there's no move to accord the protesters in Syria the same kind of protection. For the moment, France is urging Syria to reform.

Perhaps most hilariously, Syria still wants to gain a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council.

Unitied Nations Authorizes No Fly Zone For Libya

Rebel groups are rejoicing as the United Nations has authorized a no fly zone and the British have already begun operations to support the effort.

Britain is poised to move fighter jets to bases from where they can help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, after the UN Security Council gave the green light to conduct air strikes against Colonel Gaddafi’s forces, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.

“Preparations to deploy these aircraft have already started and in the coming hours they will move to airbases from where they can start to take the necessary action.” Mr Cameron told parliament.

French president Nicholas Sarkozy will host talks in Paris on Saturday to discuss co-operation and co-ordinated action against Libya with representatives “at the highest level possible level” of the European Union, Arab League and African Union.

The UN Security Council on Thursday night approved a resolution authorising “all necessary measures’’ to protect civilians under threat from the Libyan regime.

As Col Gaddafi threatened to launch an imminent assault on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the Security Council passed a resolution endorsing a no-fly zone to halt government troops that are now around 60 miles from the city.

The UN Security Council also authorised “all necessary measures” – code for military action – to protect civilians against attacks by Col Gaddafi’s forces. Following the vote, Barack Obama, the US president, conferred with David Cameron, UK prime minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, to co-ordinate “next steps”, according to the White House.

A no fly zone would give rebel groups the opportunity to regroup without fear of airborne attack by Khadafi loyalists. Khadafi's thugs have been using airstrikes to beat back rebel advances towards Tripoli and retake territory captured by rebel groups including several important oil facilities.

For its part, China has expressed reservations about the no fly zone.

A no fly zone is not without serious risks, and could draw in foreign nations, including the US, into a potentially ugly civil war. Still, the benefit of preventing further harm to civilians is the driving concern here - Khadafi has shown a willingness to attack civilian populations, not including the attacks against protesters.

UPDATE:
Has the no fly zone already prompted Khadafi to moderate? According to MSNBC, his foreign minister is claiming that the Khadafi loyalists will stop military further military actions, but I wouldn't trust that to last.

Libyan Civil War Continues Raging As French Recognize Rebels As Legitimate Government

The French have recognized the rebel groups as the legitimate government of Libya, displacing Mumar Khadafi. The French recognized the Libyan National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people:

Moving ahead of its allies, France on Thursday became the first country to recognize Libya’s rebel leadership in the eastern city of Benghazi and said it would soon exchange ambassadors with the insurgents.

The move was a victory for the Libyan National Council in its quest for recognition and a setback for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi who has been seeking whatever international support he can as NATO members in Brussels began a debate about the possible imposition of a no-flight zone over Libya.

The French announcement came as loyalist forces in Libya claimed new successes against the rebels west of the capital in the town of Zawiyah, while, to the east, loyalist forces renewed ferocious assaults on the key oil town of Ras Lanuf.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris on Thursday with Mahmoud Jibril and Ali Al-Esawi, representatives of the Libyan National Council that was set up after the uprising in Libya erupted in February. He was the first head of state to meet with insurgent leaders.

Part of the problem for various countries in dealing with the ongoing situation in Libya is who exactly is speaking for the rebel groups and their disparate interests that are united only in getting rid of Khadafi. With France moving ahead of the US or other NATO countries, the French are taking the situation to a different level and may pave the way for a no-fly zone to protect the gains made by the rebel groups. France is expected to announce further diplomatic moves in meetings with EU partners on Friday. Britain appears to be open to recognizing the Libyan National Council as well, and it's likely that the EU will follow France's lead. Once the EU acts, expect other countries to join with the French on recognizing the National Council to further alienate Khadafi.

Moreover, it could lead to the announcement of a secession by the Eastern portion of the country from Libya should the rebels be unable to gain territory up to and including the capital of Tripoli.

Khadafi, meanwhile, continues to use his considerable fortune to pay off his mercenaries and loyalists and flacks internationally but his loyalists also have no problem kidnapping and murdering those opposed to Khadafi. Hundreds, if not thousands, have disappeared and they have likely been murdered by the regime's backers.

Khadafi's loyalists have forced the rebels from Ras Lanuf, a major oil production city.



Those Khadafi loyalists also assaulted a BBC news team, and terrorized them with a mock execution:


UPDATE:
Khadafi's thugs captured two more journalists and it is clear that Khadafi's hoping to intimidate journalists into not covering the ongoing story in the country - and assaulting, kidnapping, and torturing journalists is part and parcel of Khadafi's attempts to hold on to power.

UPDATE:
French President Nicholas Sarkozy is even floating the idea of going well beyond a no-fly zone to actually carrying out aistrikes against Khadafi's forces.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will propose air strikes on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's command headquarters to EU leaders, a source close to discussions has told AFP.

At an EU summit on the Libyan crisis, he will propose "striking an extremely limited number of points which are the source of the most deadly operations" by forces loyal to Gaddafi, the source, who asked not to be named, said on Thursday.

The three sites being considered are Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia command headquarters in Tripoli, a military air base in Syrte, east of Tripoli and another in Sebha in the south, the source said.
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Sarkozy's office declined to confirm the claim when contacted by AFP.

Given the reluctance of the US to carry out even a no-fly zone, the idea of airstrikes isn't going to go over well with the US or NATO. The US would be at the forefront of any no-fly zone operation given its logistical capabilities and the lack of same among the European countries - particularly since the US could move a carrier task force into range to handle the operation.